tangled in lame pickup lines
by from-sabrina
Summary: "She raises her eyebrows in offense and lets out a little indignant huff. It's too cute and he refuses to acknowledge how badly his heart is fluttering because that's not manly at all." /In which Ross embarks on a plan to make Laura fall in love with him. Also includes details from their Meet and Greet on 9/15/12. Oneshot. Written for Emily and ExtremeSaucicity :D


**Pairing: Ross/Laura**  
**Prompt: Well, ExtremeSaucicity here on FanFiction sent in an ask to the RauraHQ tumblr about meeting Ross and Laura at their Meet and Greet in Kansas City (they were the cutest thing ever dsabldnjklgnklfjdirupwoeirop eir like get marrIED ALREADY), then posted the whole thing on her profile. Later that night, Laura tweeted me again about the Meet and Greet and how she thinks her handwriting isn't good and she's just so cute jsklandjksjgklhoiwepoifoklsd ngfkd. Anyways, I decided to write a oneshot about this, so here it is :) Also, Mae and Mary were talking about the whole Ross-already-confessed-but-LaurLaur-turned-him-down idea, so I decided to incorporate that as well.**  
**Notes: This oneshot is dedicated to Emily (Emily14R5 on TWitter), as well as ExtremeSaucicity. Also, I know everyone wants NESIWBE to be updated, but it's currently second to be updated on my list, after TOFK. I'm getting there, I promise! At the moment, though, I'm doing a bunch of oneshots for my friends on Twitter, all published separately, so if you're looking for something to read, just skip on over to my profile :)**  
**Disclaimer: Mmhm. No copyright infringement intended.**

**More about Emily14R5: She is absolutely amazing with Photoshop; she runs r5typography. tumblr. com as well as her own tumblr, lucyhaling. tumblr. com. And she's fabulous and funny and jklsjnkacldghirowiuropwirope wieogjitrjkfd, y'know what I mean?**

**And Emily^^^ made my FF icon as well as one of my Tumblr banners, so I'm eternally grateful ^_^**

**HEY RAURA RAURA RAURA RAURA RAURA RAURA RAURA**

**so, me and a bunch of my twitter friends started raurahq. tumblr. com; head over there and check it out :D**

**Copyright 2012 from-sabrina**

* * *

He doesn't give up. Ever. It's a trademark thing about Ross Lynch, and that's that if he sets his heart on something, he'll blindly follow it. Some call it stupid, some say it's endearing, but for Laura Marano, it just makes it so much more difficult to resist him.

See, the thing is, after one and a half seasons working together, they know each other inside and out, and one day, he decides to drop a bombshell on her because he's Ross Lynch and he doesn't know how to be subtle.

It was a normal day. They were eating lunch, just by themselves (no one finds it weird anymore- they've all accepted the fact that Ross and Laura are private people and that they click with each other more than anyone else), when he calls for her attention, stares straight into her eyes, and says bluntly, "I like you."

At first she thinks he's joking, because he's 16 and has always been a bit of a flirt (albeit an awkward and easily flustered one), so she laughs and brushes it off. "Thanks, Ross. I like you, too."

And he's flabbergasted that she can just blow him off so easily, so he doesn't say anything.

A few days later, at their weekly live taping, they're waiting backstage ready to go on when he mutters something like, "I_like_likeyou".

It's almost too fast and too quiet for Laura to hear, but she catches it and with a startled widening of her eyes, she asks, "What?"

He knows that he promised himself to confess by today at the latest (after all, today _is_ when they film the kissing scene), but it's scary and he takes the easy way out. "Uhm... Meatloaf you."

"Huh?"

Quickly scrambling for an explanation, he says the only thing that pops into his head. "Remember the time we had a potluck dinner and you tried cooking meatloaf and it tasted awful? Yeah, I was just making fun of you." He smirks but on the inside he breathes a sigh of relief at his plausible-enough excuse.

She raises her eyebrows in offense and lets out a little indignant huff. It's too cute and he refuses to acknowledge how badly his heart is _fluttering_ because that's _not manly at all_.

But of course, this is what she does to him.

* * *

After they finish the taping, they do the usual curtain call, but this time, when Ross slips Laura's hand into his so they can bow together, he can't stop smiling. That kiss... it was short, it was chaste, but it only left him wanting more.

So, he resolves to tell her that night, just like he had planned all along. However, between interviews, pictures, and signings, he loses track of his petite costar, and it's 9 o'clock and everyone's leaving and damn it, he has to find her.

Finally he spots the bubbly brunette, headed towards her dressing room. He manages to catch her in the hallway where all their dressing rooms are located, and trying to be suave, he stops her with a quiet, "Hey meatloaf," and leans against the wall casually.

"Hi!" she returns brightly. There's a brief period of silence in which he frantically tries to figure out how to say it, then she says, a little unsurely, "Um... did you need something...?"

"You," he blurts out, before he can stop himself.

Her eyes widen and she knows he's being serious. "Uh- sorry, _what_?"

The tips of his ears are turning red like they do whenever he gets embarrassed, and he wills the heat in his cheeks to go down. "I meant what I said, y'know. About liking you? Yeah, as in head-over-heels. I mean, I don't even know how this happened! And it wasn't like one day I woke up and decided to _like_ you, it's been gradually building over the past year and a half and... oh jeez, how was I supposed to keep myself from falling?" His speech is relatively short and impassioned, and she knows that only he would have the guts to say something like that; other guys would have been too protective of their pride, but this is Ross Lynch and he's a romantic at heart.

She doesn't know what to say after his words leave her frozen, so she just gives him the deer-in-headlights look for a couple seconds. Then she blinks rapidly and compassion flashes in her eyes. _Compassion_- whatever she's going say next isn't going to be good, and Ross knows this so he braces himself.

"I- That's very sweet of you, Ross," she begins, hating how his eyes turn dull, knowing she's going to turn him down. "But... I never think that it's a good idea to mix work with romance; it just screws everything up, you know what I mean? I really think you're a wonderful person and any girl would be lucky to have you but I just can't have a relationship with you. I'm so sorry." Her sorrow is indeed evident in her expression as she enters her dressing room backwards and closes the door in his face.

He can only blink in shock, barely acknowledging how his heart has dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

But because he's Ross Lynch and he's blindly stubborn, he realizes that she never said anything about not returning his feelings... just that she couldn't date him.

Well. He smirks. He's never one for letting what he wants just get away like that, and Laura's no exception to that rule.

So, the next day, he bounds up to her and slings an arm around her shoulder, saying brightly, "Hi Laura!"

"Hi..." She trails off awkwardly, the memory of last night still fresh in her mind.

"So, I know you turned me down last night and everything," he begins, laughing at her wince, "but you know how I am- I don't give up that easily. So," and here he turns to face her, expression serious. "I'm going to make you fall in love with me," he says, breaking into a genuine grin. "Just for a month, so don't worry about having to file a restraining order against me. But for 30 days, I'm going to do everything I can to make you fall in love with me."

The promise is sincere and Laura's never been so touched in her life. "I- Ross-" She isn't sure what to say, so she settles for, "That's not fair!"

He blinks, taken aback at her reaction. "Huh?"

"That's not fair!" she repeats desperately. "You're too charming and nice and sweet and- ugh, how am I supposed to resist you if you've got that smile and that stupid hair and- and you just have too much ammunition to fight with, okay?!"

He smirks. "I guess that's a good thing for me, right?" With that, he makes to leave for his dressing room, but not before throwing out a casual, "You look pretty, even when you have to go to work at 6 in the morning."

He leaves her flustered and incredulous, gaping after him.

* * *

"I'm going to kill Ross," declares Laura later, doing homework**(1)** in her bedroom with Rachel**(2)**. "I'm going to rip him limb from limb. And then maybe kiss him, but I'm definitely going to kill him."

Rachel laughs. Only Ross can leave this kind of effect on Laura; the one where the sides she never shows (violence, for one) come out. "I don't get why you won't just get together with him already, though. I mean, you know that Gianna**(3)** closet-ships you two, anyway."

Laura sighs. "You know my reasons. Ross is my coworker and I refuse to mix work with love. I. Refuse. I mean, think of how unproffesional it would be if I dated him!"

Rachel raises an eyebrow. "If that was the case, then everyone in Hollywood would be considered unprofessional."

"So? It's just not smart to date someone you work with. What if we break up? Then we still have to work with each other, and with the way Austin and Ally's relationship is progressing, the writers will have us making out against a piano soon enough, all while we're still broken up and bitter!" She can feel her voice going into the hysterical range, but it's not unprecedented seeing as how she really does like this boy and to enter in a relationship with him would be _so extremely risky_ that she doesn't even let herself think about it.

"Hey, hey, relax," soothes Rachel. "I'm not saying you should go to the set tomorrow and make out with him. I'm just asking you to consider thinking of him not as a coworker, but as a friend. You two are best friends, right? So just think of him like that. Would you be open to dating your best friend? Who you're actually totally crazy for?"

"No, I wouldn't be open to that, because what if it messes up our friendship? Crap, there's another reason why I can't date Ross!" Laura drops her head into her hands and groans.

"What if it doesn't ruin your friendship though?" asks Rachel quietly. "What if you never break up, and instead you have this amazing relationship that everyone's jealous of?"

Laura's silent for a moment while she ponders this, then she shakes her head quickly. "Nonononono, I can't think like that! If I think like that, I'm going to start wanting it, and that's going to lead to me doing things that I shouldn't and— ugh, I just _can't_, okay Rachel?"

Her friend nods in understanding, but on the inside she's convulsing because _how can Laura be this difficult_. "Fine," she sighs. "But you should know, Gianna and I have jumped aboard the Raura ship."

Laura throws a pillow at Rachel, but the actress doesn't acknowledge the fact that Rachel knows their ship name and so does she.

It's normal to know what you and your best friend's ship name is, right?

* * *

It's only been two weeks and Laura is ready to throw herself off a cliff (or throw Ross into a blender; that could work, too).

For the past two weeks, Ross has been achingly adorable and sweet as well as forever sunny and funny. It's getting to her; she won't deny it.

For example, half a week into his promise of making her fall for him, he makes her lunch. She was going to go buy lunch at Chick-fil-A, but he stops her, something held behind his back.

"Ross?" she turns to him inquistively.

Almost shyly, he sticks out a brown paper bag, which he was previously holding behind his back. "I made lunch," he says awkwardly. "For you. 'Cause, y'know, you need food and energy and stuff... and there's really no point in going to Chick-fil-A with the rest of the cast and crew if I've got lunch and you've got lunch and we can just eat it together alone... oh hey, that's an oxymoron..." He realizes that he's rambling and tries to get back on track. "Anyways, the whole point of that is... You should eat the lunch I made for you. And you should eat it with me."

She's too touched for words, except for three little ones. "Damn it, Ross!"

"Hmm?" His lips quirk, noticing how conflicted she is.

"You can't just— and then just— and you just—" Laura gesticulates wildly, frustration seeping through her tone. Finally, she wails, "_Why are you making this so hard?!_ First, you gave me that adorable confession, then you gave me an amazing speech on not giving me up that easily, and of course you made good on your promise so you decided to be the most charming person ever and now!— Now you're making me lunch?!"

The smirk is still fixed on his face. "Well, I guess I'm doing a good job, aren't I?" Taking her hand casually into his, he leads her over to a grassy area beneath some trees— the Disney cast and crew who work on this lot call it Beauty in the Midst of Beasts, which makes fun of them all.

There's a full picnic set up, and Laura's hands fly over her mouth in astonishment. "I— I thought you only made me lunch!"

He shrugs, looking satisfied with himself. "Well, I lied. There was nothing in that bag; this is the real treat." Smiling, he sits down on the blanket and pats the area next to him. "Sit. Enjoy. Tell me you love me; I dunno."

She smacks him playfully on the arm, and he pretends to be hurt by it. The rest of the picnic passes by too fast, with lots of flirty banter thrown in.

Laura can't help but wonder what a relationship with Ross would be like; isn't she technically experiencing it already through his ludricous plan? If she is, then she's certainly ruined, because this is better than anything she could have ever imagined.

It's only when she's lying in bed that night, still giddy from the day's events, that she realizes he must have somehow bribed everyone to go to Chick-fil-A that day, because there was not a single disturbance during that picture-perfect picnic.

The fact that he would do that for her just makes her head spin even more. Suffice to say, it's a sleepless night.

* * *

That is just one of the things he does. Every day, he'll be painfully perfect towards her, and she feels like everyday he's getting closer and closer to her locked fortress of a heart.

One and a half weeks in, he walks into her dressing room and casually asks, "Laura, do you remember the dancing scene we did in Club Owners and Quinceñeras?"

She nods, slightly puzzled (and more than a little apprehensive) at what his point is. "Yeah, why?" she asks.

"Well, I have the music here with me, and I thought maybe we could do it just for old times' sake?" he suggests.

She shrugs, standing up from her chair, not questioning why he wanted to dance with her all of a sudden (a move she'll regret dearly later). "Sure, why not?"

Smiling satisfactorily, Ross plugs his iPhone into the stereo and as soon as the music starts, he grabs Laura by the hand and waist and they start dancing.

It's a little disconcerting to be this close to him when she's already _this close_ to bending, but she puts on a brave face and refuses to let him affect her any more than he already has.

Of course, that's all wishful thinking, because when they reach the part where Trish's mother blows an airhorn and Laura falls in the episode, Ross doesn't stop.

He keeps her in the dip, so close that she can count the different flecks of collar in his eyes. "Hi," she says, and she doesn't even recognize her own voice; it's so breathy and light.

"Hey," he replies softly, just studying her for a second. The music has stopped, but his heart is still beating in time to it. "You're really going to hate what I'm going to do next," he sighs after a moment. Her brow furrows and she instantly starts worrying her lip. His eyes narrow at that and she stops immediately; no need to turn his attention to her lips, no need at all.

She's still in the middle of playing out scenarios of what exactly Ross could do that she would really hate, when he swoops in and kisses her cheek gently. It's sweet and there's affection behind it, and she thinks she's crazy because a simple kiss on the cheek shouldn't affect her this badly. "Ross!" she exclaims, as she always does when he flirts with her, purely out of habit. "I can't believe you did that I mean do you know how hard it is for me to stay strong and not bend and now you just-" She pauses and takes a deep breath. "I hate you!" she whines, and he grins, wrapping her in a big hug despite her protests.

_But I love you_, he thinks, and he surprises himself with that. All along, he's known that she does like him but she's just not willing to take the risk, and he's flirted with her with that in mind, so he promised himself never to _actually fall for her_. See, she's just a little too perfect and a little too pure and he doesn't want to take the risk of tainting something so beautiful, either. But now she's got him waxing poetic about her, and it's all a little _too much_ and he thinks he's falling, falling and falling much deeper into something he never expected.

* * *

Two and half weeks in, he drags her to his favorite spot for surfing and insists on teaching her how to surf. She protests vehemently the whole way, but when she sees the beautiful beach, her breath catches and all her protests die on her lips.

She rents a wetsuit and kind of marvels at how it feels, while he rents her a board. He takes her out to the ocean and tries to teach her how to surf, though she warns him that they may need an ambulance on hand. It turns out she's a natural, and that delights them both. They laugh and she falls down (because honestly, she's enjoying this and his company too much— plus, even naturals make mistakes) and he teases her and they laugh some more, and it's all _so wonderful_ and suddenly, she stops and thinks, _This relationship could work out._

This thoughts stops her in her tracks and she hesitates a bit, long enough for her to lose her balance. But just like in a piece of cliché chick lit, he catches her from behind and really, she fits like a puzzle piece in his arms. It sounds strange when she tells Raini about it later, but it's true; it was like they were made for each other, and she can feel her resolve slowly crumbling.

Ross moons over her later to his siblings, and they laugh at him and tease him, but Rydel's got a funny look on her face and he realizes that it's wishful. "'Sup, Rydel?" he asks, and his random question stops the six siblings' (because really, Ratliff's family) joking around.

"Oh, nothing," sighs Rydel, propping her head up on her hands. "It's just— I want that. I want the kind of guy who would take a whole month to get me to fall for him, the kind of guy who would gush about me to his friends and family, the kind who would never give up on me, y'know?"

Riker is quiet for a second, then, "But until you find that guy, you've always got us, sis." And his calling her "sis" is so 7th Heaven but it's affectionate and a little goofy, and she smiles.

"I'll fall in love when I'm ready," she says, and that's that. She doesn't notice the longing look Ratliff's trying to hide, and she also doesn't see the sympathy in her brothers' eyes when they look at their best friend**(5)**.

But that's another story altogether.

* * *

They're three and a half weeks in and Ross is starting to get desperate. He knows Laura's starting to crack, but by now, it's not just some silly proposition to him anymore. It's not just trying to make her fall in love with him because he likes her; no, now he's thinking that he may honest-to-god actually _love_ her.

So he's extremely happy that they're doing a Meet and Greet together in Kansas City for Expo Americas on Saturday, because that's a chance to spend a whole day alone with her... while doing promotion, but she's such a bouncy person that promotion with her never feels like work.

The fact that the Meet and Greet is on Saturday (two days before his Monday deadline of one month) doesn't faze him; it _can't_, really, because he knows that this is pretty much his last shot, and he doesn't plan on messing it up because he was _nervous_.

Friday night before he has to board his plane, Calum comes over and helps him pack and plan.

Actually, Calum suggests that Ross should ask Laura out with a message in fortune cookies, and so therefore he finds it necessary to shove a pack of them into Ross's suitcase.

It's not a bad idea, unti Calum remembers that Ross already tried asking Laura out once, and that now it's really about winning her over because damn, Ross has it bad for their pretty brunette costar.

"Well, what am I supposed to do now with a bunch of fortune cookies?" asks Ross, scratching his head and staring at the blank pieces of paper paired with empty cookies in front of him.

Calum shrugs. "I dunno, eat them on the plane." He wrinkles his nose, "Airplane food is gross, and they make you pay atrocious amounts for real food." He sighs dramatically, "What do I have to do to get some food that's as fabulous as me?"

Ross laughs at his (at times crazy but always hilarious) best friend's words, but they give him an idea. "Hey, what if I wrote nice things on these blank pieces of paper, slip them into the empty fortune cookies, and then give them to her to eat?"

Calum's previously (dramatisized) disgusted posture straightens. "That's actually not a bad idea!"

Quickly, Ross digs a sharpie somewhere out of his closet (god knows why there's a sharpie in there) and gets to work, brow furrowing and the tip of his tongue poking out as he concentrates and works.

Meanwhile, Calum helps him further to pack. "Hey Ross, do you think you'll want to bring a tux?"

That startles him for a second, and a confused, "What?" pops out of his mouth.

"You want to look nice for when you propose to Laura, right?"

This time the "_WHAT?_" is a lot louder and emphatic.

Calum only shoots him a _duh_ look. "Obviously, the Meet snd Greet in Kansas City is when and where you two will rocket through all the levels of a relationship at lightning-speed. You'll become boyfriend-and-girlfriend on the flight there, you'll get engaged while the Expo Americas crew preps you for your Meet and Greet, then you'll run off to the city hall to get married— totally disregarding the Meet and Greet, by the way— and by the time you're on the flight back here, you should be bouncing babies on your laps."

Ross is so used to Calum's strangeness that most of the what he says doesn't faze him anymore. However, the longer Ross thinks about it, the longer a question burns in his head. He's not even freaking out over the engagement and marriage and children part to Calum's prediction, because he's concerned over one little technical detail. So he blurts out, "... Wouldn't the correct term be eloping, and not marrying, then?"

Predictably, the rest of the conversation spirals downward into the pit of absudity.

* * *

Saturday morning Ross wakes up to the sound of his siblings clustered outside his door, whispering loudly amongst themselves.

"I say we don't tell him," snickers Ryland.

"Yeah, let's scare him a little," agrees Ratliff.

Riker and Rydel share looks of long-suffering, then, "Let's save humiliating Ross for some other time, okay? Not when she's in the house."

"Well, what do you say, Rocky?" asks Ratliff, turning to the brunette tie-breaker.

Rocky grins. "You know what I'd say. Let's embarrass him, definitely!"

And that's when the door opens and Ross comes out, shirtless and his hair sticking up every which way. "Wbjfghzri?" he mumbles, still in a state of half-sleeping, half-dreaming.

"Good morning to you too, Ross," greets Ratliff, amused.

Yawning, Ross stretches and opens his eyes, blinking rapidly at the image of all his siblings at his door. "What are you all doing here?" he asks, confused.

"Nothing," says Riker and Rydel, while at the same time Ratliff, Ryland, and Rocky disagree with,

"Plotting."

Ross shoots them a worried look. "What did you do? I swear, if any of you hid my underwear..."

Ryland groans, clutching at his head. "That only happened one time, okay? I don't know why you're still so hung up about it..."

Before the two youngest siblings can get into it any further, Ratliff cut in with a referee-like gesture. "Cut it out kids, Rossky's got a big day ahead of him." He winks and Ross can only shake his head, still confused as he gets pushed into the bathroom by his siblings.

Only when he's brushing his teeth by himself does he realize that Ratliff called him "Rossky."

_Where the hell did that come from?_

* * *

As soon as Ross enters the kitchen, he literally does a double-take. His mother is just standing there, flipping pancakes casually with _Laura_. The two are conversing cheerfully with each other, and Ross can only let out an incomprehensible "Whazzshedoingherr?", his mouth hanging open. He thinks he sees his siblings snickering amonst themselves out of the corner of his eye, but right now he's too preoccupied to worry about ending their lives (damn it, he should've known something was up when he saw them outside his door).

"Hi, honey," greets Stormie brightly, handing her slightly frozen-looking son a plate of pancakes.

"Hey, Ross— oh." Laura stops short at the sight of her blonde costar still shirtless and his hair still sticking up. The whole effect is quite _rabid raccoon_, what with his wide-eyed stare and his open mouth. However, everything is lost on Laura except that hair that looks _stupidly_ adorable and messy, and that bare physique, because she's only human, female, and 16 (and those kind of people normally tend to notice good-looking things).

"What are you doing here?" Ross finally sputters. "At my house? At six in the morning?"

She shrugs. "Well, I have all my stuff with me, and since we're on the same plane anyway, I thought I'd come over and we could go to the airport together." Smiling, she turns to Stormie. "Of course, then your mom mentioned pancakes, and I couldn't help but share my grandma's secret recipe with her."

Ross has snapped out of his state of shock and by now, his mouth is watering just looking at the plate of pancakes (made by Laura, no less) in his hands. "This looks amazing," he tells her honestly, pointing at the plate. Quickly, he sits down at the kitchen island, where maple syrup is already set out. He motions for her to join him (after all, he isn't a _complete_ asshat) and she does so happily, setting her plate down next to his.

"Ross, put on some clothes; we've got polite company in the house!" Stormie scolds, and Ross grins embarrassedly. Had it been any other girl, he would have used his shirtlessness to his advantage, but this is Laura and everything's backwards when he's with her.

Quickly, he leaves to get dressed, and Laura breathes a sigh of relief. She knows she's close to bending under pressure, and Ross being all shirtless and cute isn't helping at all.

"Okay, I'm presentable!" declares Ross, entering the kitchen and grinning at her. Sitting down at the kitchen island once again, he digs into his pancakes with gusto. As soon as he tastes the first bite, his eyes widen and he drops his form comically, chewing slowly.

"What?" asks Laura, slightly worded that he doesn't like her cooking.

"Laura," he begins seriously, then throws his arms around in and speaks into her hair, "Will you marry me and make me pancakes every day?"

She laughs, hugging him back because man, he's too cute. "If you leave maple syrup in my hair, I'm never making you anything again," she warns, and he obediently pulls away. Thank god; she was enjoying that _way_ too much.

They spend the rest of breakfast teasing and flirting, which by now comes so naturally to both of them that they don't even think about it. However, when they all pile into the Lynch family van (all seven of them) and Ross and Laura are "coincidentally" seated together by themselves in the back row, the rest of the group do a little fangirling/fanboying at how _perfect_ they are.

When they reach the security lines, Ross and Laura bid farewell to their friends, and greet their agents cheerfully. They go through security, then board the plane, and once again Ross and Laura are somehow seated next to each other.

Ross hasn't missed how everyone's been plotting to get him and Laura together (although she's been oblivious to it all), and he realizes that his family as well as the cast and crew of Austin & Ally are crazy, fanatic shippers.

Before he can dwell any longer on the subject of the insane people he's surrounded with, he hears Laura's little grunt of frustration next to him. She's biting her lip in effort and concentration because the overhead cabin is just a little bit out of her reach. It's all too adorable and Ross is pretty sure he has a heart condition because otherwise why would his chest be this warm?

"Ross," she sighs, interrupting his (turning melodramatic) thoughts. "Can you help me?" she asks.

Grinning, he teases her, "What, is Meatloaf too short?"

She huffs and her hands fly up on her hips. "Meatloaf, is fine, thank you very much. She's just having some trouble with the tall overhead cabins." Huffing again, she comes out of third-person narrating. "Why do they make these so high up, anyways? Not everyone's gigantically tall!"

Laughing, he takes her suitcase and puts it into the overhead cabin for her. Sitting down in his seat (first-class, thank you very much), he pulls Laura down into the one next to him, and says, "Yeah, but not everyone's little and cute like you are."

She pretends like his comment doesn't affect her, but she can feel the heat in her cheeks and he laughs loudly, taking her tiny hand into his own (mammothly) large one. The gesture is casual, but there's real affection behind it and she can't help but smile.

The rest of the plane ride is enjoyed between more teasing and flirting.

* * *

Laura wakes up with her head on Ross's shoulder and his cheek laying on top of her head, their hands still intertwined. Somewhere during the relatively short flight, they had fallen asleep. She doesn't remember falling asleep in this position, but she's not against waking up like this every now and then, tucked into his chest. "Hey, Ross," she whispers.

"Hmm?" He opens his eyes slowly and smiles sleepily at her.

"We're landing in a couple minutes," she says, but doesn't make a move to change their current position.

"Okay," he replies, and his arms go wrap themselves around her tighter.

Unfortunately, as much as they'd like to stay that way forever, the plane touches down and they hurry off with their agents.

One bland car ride later, they arrive at the venue and are greeted by the Expo Amercas crew. They're prepped and made up quickly, the noise level growing as more and more people flood the venue.

Half an hour later, they enter through the double doors and wild cheers go up. 95% of the people are girls, as expected, but there are a few guys there that are going crazy for Laura, and Ross kind of just wants to hide her away.

It's all pictures and glitz and autographs and smiles, and they're floating on the adrenaline of living this absolute _dream_. There's this one instance where a mother and her two little kids come up to them, and Ross has to get on his knees in order to be level with the kids. Laura bends down and smiles brightly at the camera; the two of them have never made a cuter picture.

One hand is always on her hips, his arm always around her waist, warm and comfortable. Sometimes he'll lean over and he'll tease her, whispering, "Hey Meatloaf, guess whose the prettiest girl alive?"

And she'll flush and fluster because she _knows_ he's trying to get her to cave, but she's affected just the same. "Stop it, Ross!" she'll exclaim, and he'll laugh and rub her back.

"It's you," he'll say, and she gets flustered all over again. The whole time, they're both smiling uncontrollably, flirting and teasing and posing and smirking. When the repetition of signature, smiles, poses, and camera flashes gets too mundane, he'll come up with new ways to entertain her. Sometimes it'll be a silly pose in a picture, like bunny ears and a cheesy grin. Other times it'll be little nudges and touches to make her blush, or whispered jokes to make her laugh.

**(6)**One time, a group of teens come up to them, looking extremely excited. "Hey! What's up, guys?" greets Laura cheerfully, still bubbly and bright after three hours of meeting and greeting.

One of the girls hands them a plastic cup, saying, "Sign my cup!"

And so Laura grabs it and starts chanting, "Sign the cup, sign the cup!" The moment is too cute, and Ross is beaming as he tries to slide the cup out of her hands.

"Heeey!" she protests at him. "Ross, what are you doing?!"

"Signing the cup," he replies innocently, but his snickering comes a moment after and ruins the angelic aura he was hoping to give off. Turning to the girl who gave them the cup, he queries, "You want us to sign this, right? Just the cup?"

She nods, then adds, "But make it pretty!"

Laura falters and kind of stutters out, "Um, well, I don't really have a pretty signature, but I'll do my best!"

"She doesn't have good handwriting," teases Ross, pretending to shake his head pityingly at her.

The lone guy in the group interrupts bashfully with, "It's okay if you can't write well because you're beautiful."

She bats a hand at him and smiles shyly, "Aw, you stooooop it!" But then suddenly her attention is diverted because Ross starts jerking the cup out of her hands again, and she cries, "Whaaaa- why?! You messed up my heart! Now they're going to think I suck at autographs, Ross!" She pouts at him and it's honestly the cutest thing he's ever seen; forget Pixie**(7)(6)**.

"Oops," he says, shrugging angelically. She keeps up the pout for a little while longer until the group asks to take a picture with them, and they do so accordingly.

Afterwards, he grabs her by the waist and says, "Hey, do you know who's the most beautiful, kind, amazing person in the world?"

She thinks about it seriously for a second. "My mom?" she replies, and it's so innocently said that his heart does that weird flutter thing again.

"Nah. It's you, duh." And he's beaming so brightly at her she thinks he's outshining the sun, and it's all just a little bit too much because suddenly, she has his face cupped between her hands and he's gone still, oh so very still.

"I'm ready to try it," she breathes out. "I'm ready to try a relationship with you. Maybe it'll turn out awful and ruin our career, or maybe it'll be fantastic and we'll live happily ever after. But for now, I'm just willing to try."

His eyes are wide and his heart is in his mouth, emotions flashing by his features; shock, uncertainty, happiness, then pure, unadulterated joy. It's only natural instinct for their lips to come together in the collision course they've been destined for, and it's wonderful, oh so very wonderful.

There are still cameras flashing behind them, and the noise level in the venue has only increased, but his fingers are tangled up in her hair and she's never felt warmer in her life.

He's so glad he's not tangled up in lame pick-up lines anymore, and she's still anxious about their future, but for now, in this beautiful, enchanted kiss, she's ready to stay in the moment because _this is perfect_.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, so so so so so so sorry about the lack of updates!**

**(1) So, just to clarify, Laura goes to a regular public high school when she's not busy working. When she is working, however, she has an on-set teacher (that she shares with Ross and sometimes they tweet about it and it's too cute adjknslajgklnrupewri[quewop[rte). (2) Rachel is one of her best friends from school. Actually, we talk to her quite often :) (3) Gianna is another one of Laura's best friends from school. She and Kirsten and I had the most scintillating conversation last week on raurahq. tumblr. com. (4) Did I skip this number... (5) Okay, so Kellington (Ellington and his girlfriend, Kelly) are absolute perfection, but when I first found out about R5, Rydellington was my first ship, and it shows, especially in NESIWBE. I mean, Rydel tweeted about how she used to think he was cute (this tweet is from forever ago but sjkalnjlkgrpwireoutipow) and they tweet each other all the time and ugh, it just messes with my feels. (6) This is where I paraphrase and take quotes directly from _ExtremeSaucicity_'s profile, where she posted about meeting Ross and Laura. Also, the other 6 is for when I stop quoting her profile. (7) Pixie is the Austin & Ally set dog; she's the most adorable thing and her twitter handle is AustinAllyPixie.**

**It's 11:05 and I have to do other stuff, so bye :)**

**~ Sabrina**


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